Your Friendly Dinosaur

“Mama, have you seen my water bottle?” You turn around and pointed to the direction for Ava. “It’s in the dishwasher. Are you almost ready?” You called, you hear her run into the kitchen to pull her bottle out. “Almost!” You walked over to the front door to grab your keys and your phone dings. You reached in your pocket and pulled out your phone to see an unknown message.

You grinned and read it.

Unknown: How’s it hanging?

You shook your head and began to type.

You: What is it with you and the unknown numbers? I’m starting think it’s not you. Unknown: It is me and I asked you a question first. You: We’re hanging there. I’m about to drive Ava to practice. Unknown: Nice. You: Now answer mine. Unknown: For safety. Unknown: I don’t trust a lot of people. You: You trust me? Unknown: I do. Just not others. Unknown: You busy this weekend? You: Depends... Unknown: What? You: Depends if you can impress me by arriving on time. Unknown: And now you made me feel bad Unknown: Once again. You: Plus Ava’s gotta have you over. Unknown: Done. So yes? You: Fine. I’ll see you soon, hummer boy.  Unknown: I love you|

Jensen stopped to rethink about sending it, but when he saw the sign he was offline, he sighed and closed his computer to see Pooch clean his gun. “I hear them coming.” The radio on the table began to make static sounds of Clay’s voice shouting into the radio. Jensen takes the radio and holds it up to his mouth. “Clay, Roque? You guys okay?”

“We-” Static. “There’s a tru-” More static and Jensen looks over to Pooch. “Clay, I can’t hear you, you’re unclear. Over.” He holds it up to his ear, Clay shouts in the radio causing Jake to pull it away. “We’ve bee spotted. There’s a truck headed your way, get out of there! We’ll meet boys on the southside of the river! Go! They got guns!”

Jensen and Pooch look at each other and jump up to run for the army green mil-sped hummer. Pooch takes the front seat and Jensen jumps in the back. “What are you doing?” He asks. Jensen pulls out his gun and fires, “Making sure these assholes don’t follow us!” Pooch curses under his breath as he continued to drive through the jungle. Jake tried to take out the driver but the window’s weren’t cracking. It was his time to curse under his breath. “Pooch, find a way off this road-!” Jake shouts when Pooch hits a large pothole and a bullet from the men behind them hits him in the shoulder.

“Jensen!” Pooch shouts, the blonde lowers himself back in the vehicle and Pooch glances over. “You hit?”

“Yeah... God, I can’t get used to this bastards,” Jensen grits. Pooch jerks the turn and drives down the hill. “Hold on!” Jake grabs onto something as the two jump in their seats while the other car continued down the trail and lost them. The two shout when a tree comes towards them. Well, Pooch going towards it. He jerks the wheel again and the car turns aggressively causing it to tilt. “Shit!” Pooch grabs onto something and the vehicle rolls down the hill and it hits another tree.

Smoking emitting from the crash, Pooch heard his radio go off. “We just saw them leave your area, you guys okay? Pooch?” Clay asked, the man reaches for the radio with a groan and coughs. “Yeah... we’re grand.” Jensen groans as well and reaches for his shoulder. Pooch unbuckles his belt and hits the roof of the car, upside down with a groan. He slides out and goes to the back, opening the door. “Come on, headless Jensen.” Jake grabs Pooch’s offered forearm and he gets pulled out. 

Pooch picks him up and puts his arm under Jensen. “We gotta get you to your single mom girlfriend.” Jensen groans when Pooch began to drag him away from the crash to meet up with Clay an Roque again. 

.

“I got a RC-XD.”

Jensen lifted his gun up and aimed around the area for a moving object on the ground. The smell was not something he was not used to and it burned his nostrils. When he sees the small car with a red light beeping, it explodes and he falls back. “Oh God!!”

“Ava. Dinner.”

“How are you good at this game?” He asked, Ava laughs and her fingers move over the controller. A game of Call of Duty Black Ops. One of the most popular games a ten year old mastered in just a month. Beating a man himself who lives in a real life warzone. He tosses the controller on the couch. “This game is bad, clearly I lagged.”

Ava giggled, “You just suck.” You peer out of the kitchen and grinned at the two. “You both up for some dinner?” Jensen and Ava stand up, when Ava runs by Jake walks up to you and grins. “Is that what I was smelling, I must’ve been getting my ass kicked just getting distracted on your cooking.”

You hum with a grin, “Well, you should practice on it.”

“You should teach me how to play,” He says, you shake your head and reached up to gently grab his bicep, “I can’t play. You’ll kick mine.” Jensen grins and nods, “We’ll see.” Ava comes around with a plate and hands it to Jake. “Here you go.”

“Oh,” He gasps, “Thank you so much, Ava.” He doesn’t use both hands as he held it in his good hand. She runs back to get herself a plate while you grin, “I’ll be back.” You lightly pat his shoulder and walked around him to go do whatever you needed to do and he puts his plate on the table. “Jake, can you grab me this?” Ava calls out. He comes over, “Yeah, of course.” 

When he grabs the sauce for her, she grins. “My mom really likes you.”

Jensen looks down at her, “Oh, yeah? Has she been talking about me?” He asked. She leans on the counter with her forearms, “Yeah. She worries about you.” Jensen furrowed his brows slightly. “Why’s that?”

“I don’t know, she doesn’t really say.” Jake doesn’t nod or reply as he grabbed himself a beer, even pouring Ava some juice for her. She watched him, “Can you come over for Christmas?” The man looks over to her in a bit of shock and with an unsure look. The little girl turns and grabs her cup, “My dad doesn’t come over to open presents, but you could open presents with us.” When she walked away, Jake followed her and then his gaze falls upon you with your arms crossed. He noticed your gaze followed Ava till you look up to him with a grin. His grew when he saw yours and he makes his way over to the table.

.

When all three of you finished your dinner, you set Ava to bed. Even Jensen was there to wish her a goodnight and maybe a round of Call of Duty tomorrow. Making your way with him to the bed, you reached down to pick up the folded clothes on the edge of your bed as he watched you. “I can sleep in the spare room, I-”

“Jake,” You turn to him, “I don’t mind.” He points to the hall where the spare room he used to sleep in. “Really, I can-” You walk up to him and he swallowed hard. “You’re such a gentleman. I actually thought you’d be up for it.” He smiled sheepishly, “Well... I thought you’d want your bed for yourself.” You reach up to take his glasses and you slid them off, folding the temples and placing them on the dresser behind him before bringing your hands back up to the sides of his face. You look up to him, but he was the one to speak.

“Ava told me you were worried when I was gone.” Your hands halt on his neck and you breathed in slowly. “It’s just scary.” “Why? I’m right here.”

You side grin, “I just... don’t know what you do. You say you’re some technician, then you say you’re a hacker-” He tilts his head at her, “Ava called me a Hacker,” He corrects. You chuckled, “I just don’t know you more than you know me.” Jake grins sadly almost at you as his hands take your hips. “I think it’s best to not know.”

You tilt your head at him, “I think it’s best for both of us to earn trust, Jake.” He lowers his gaze when he realizes his regrets. You didn’t really need him, he couldn’t trust anyone that he worked with him. He only lied to protect you. Now he thinks he can’t say it. It wasn’t coming out. He didn’t want you to worry more. Maybe it could be better to just leave. But he didn’t want to leave you and Ava.

Your hand drags down his shoulder and out of nowhere, the grip of your hand on his wounded shoulder he tried to keep a secret managed to be revealed when he yelps and leans away from your touch. You gasped, “Jake! Are you okay?” He leans back up and nods, “Yeah, I’m... fine.” “Did I hurt you?” You gently touched his shoulder as he lifted himself back up and you gasped. “Oh my God, you’re bleeding.” Jake lets out a questioned hum and looks at his shoulder to see a palm sized seep of red. “What the hell did you do-?!”

“Don’t scream, you’re gonna wake up Ava!” He says, you began to push him to the bed. “You need to sit, what the hell are you doing with something like that?” You reached for his shirt to pull it off. “Oh my God, Jensen-” “Don’t freak out-”

“Is that a bullet wound-!?”

Jake reaches for his forehead and groans, “Why did it have to go this way?” You opened the patch that had already been done. “Who did this?” You asked, Jake doesn’t even look at you when his head hung low. “Some guys in... Lacandon-”

“Lacandon, Mexico?! You said you were in Miami-!”

“Y/N, stop shouting, you’re going to make me freak out even more. I couldn’t do this to you and Ava. It was a mistake keeping in touch with you, I-” He cuts himself off as you shake your head, “No. Don’t say that. Ava is lucky to have you and I am, too. God, I knew your job had to do with shooting-”

“We’re professionals, Y/N.” Lifting your gaze up at him, he tilts his head awkwardly, “Okay, I’m not all professional but Clay, Roque, Pooch, Aisha and Cougar, we’re all... can I tell you this tomorrow-?”

You raise your hands up, “Yes! Just... let me help patch you again. Is the bullet out?” Jake nods and says Cougar was the one who pulled it out and told you it wasn’t his first time getting shot. You managed to take a chill pill and you gave Jake a glass of water. 

“Is this why you always keep your contact confidential?”

Jake nodded, “I can’t risk anyone hurting you, Ava, or my niece. That’s why I kept everything from you.” You stood there silently as your hands peeled the bandage off to see the wound. “If I knew sooner, I would’ve-”

“Left me?” He says, you stop to look at him again, his head tilted to see your eyes as his face looked sad. “Told me that it wasn’t something you want to have in your life. To love someone who probably won’t come back-” You shut him up by pulling him in for a longing kiss. His brows raise in such surprise as he slightly leans in more. You pulled away and he lets out a huff, “You were definitely an asshole for all those times you left me on delivered or hung up on me a lot.” Jake smiles and your hand cups his cheek. “But I understand.”

Jake nods before his eyes began to grow heavy, you grabbed his other shoulder, “Woah, hey, what’s wrong?” You asked, worriedly. Jake chuckles softly, “I don’t know, someone pulled the bandage away from the only thing that kept my gun wound from bleeding.” You look down and saw the blood. “Shit, I’m sorry. Hold on.”

You fixed the bandage and managed to keep Jake awake and well since you are well trained on any wounds since you’ve had Ava during her games. She’s had pretty big cuts but this was just a little more heavier than usual. You had Jake shirtless and bandaged on your bed as you both laid there. Both staring at the ceiling with your arm draped over his stomach and head on his shoulder. “I may not be the best guy to have. Got weird friends, crazy friends, a crazy job and a crazy schedule... but if you really think this isn’t the life you want, you’re welcome to tell me to eff off and I will,” He says.

I thought about it. Not the part of breaking up, but the future of it when I say no. His constant reassurance, the constant disappearance, possibly more wounds and scars that you’ve already seen enough of just by his torso. But Ava really enjoyed his presence here at dinner, you haven’t seen that since, well, forever. “I say let’s put this one the backburner. But I’m not getting rid of you because of your job that you’ve had for a few years now. I’m just scared. But... no more lies and being careful.” Jake rubs your arm softly and trailed his finger upward, before caressing your shoulder. “I promise,” He says.

There was a long silence between us, my eyes slowly drifting closed until I heard Jake inhale sharply. “Does my bullet wound impress you, though?” Jake asks. I furrowed my brows. “Took it like a man, you know?” He adds.

“No, Jake,” I say, “It doesn’t impress me.” I could tell he was smiling from ear to ear but I didn’t bother to ruin the moment we were in as we drifted off to a peaceful sleep. Let’s just hope he doesn’t try to impress you more with wounds.

......

Royals always thought less for the poor. If Ransom couldn’t help, you were the generation to do it yourself. He would just have to stay out of your way.

You hear a faint knock on your door and the door creaks open. “Good morning, Y/N,” Brodie says, you turn away from your window, wearing your silky blue gown, giving your dear friend a smile. “Good morning, Brodie. What’s the occasion?”

She grins, “Your mother has insisted on having you downstairs. She would like to speak with you.” You fully turned and nodded. You were the first to leave your room, Brodie following behind. If your mother speaks about dinner last night, you would have to reason with her. And you know how much she loved the family. You felt like you were the bad person in the room when they came. But the real answer was the family. 

Even your town was afraid of them.

Your mother never knew about the incident of punching Ransom. If you did, she may lock you up in a tower. Your father had kept the incident from her because he knew her more than you did. She didn’t know the full reason why he sent you to that Manor. Your mother only agreed to it with no questions. You could hear your mother chatting to one of the maids as she sat at the long table. 

“Morning, Ma cherie. Je vous en prie, asseyez-vous,” Your mother says, you listen and take a seat right next to her. Her gentle eyes scanning the letter, she hums, “How was your ball, yesterday?” You peer up at her, finally grinning. “It was wonderful. I’m sure Angelica would have one for her sixteenth?”

Your mother nods, “Yes, of course. We would’ve done that for yours, but sadly your father sent you off to that manor,” She shook her head while you drew your eyes away, sheepishly. “Also, your father and I were talking about your betrothal. I’m sure that’ll come in a few months, don’t you think, ma cherie-?”

You reach for your face and sighed, “Mother, please, can we-” Her hand lifts up to stop you mid-sentence, “Ah-ah. Miss Brodie, darling, can you excuse us for a moment?” She asks. Brodie’s face beams up, bowing her head, “Yes, Your Grace.” Seconds later, you’re left with your mother in the large room. She taps your forearm, “Don’t touch your face, darling. Hands down.” You sigh, turning to her. “I can’t do marriage. I’m not ready-”

“Och. Darling, your brother was to be crowned 10 years ago and he chose to be with a poor lovely woman, your sister wants to be the fairest of them all and you… you don’t want this?”

“What I don’t want is having to submit to someone. Yes, I wanted to be queen alone, but I found something else-” You drop your shoulders, helplessly, taking your mother’s hand in yours to have her understand. It only made her shake her head, “This is what has to happen.” You lowered your head and shook it.

You hear your mother click her tongue, taking your chin, “The only reason we do this...is to have those who we trust to take our place. And you can’t do that alone. No one could,” She lifts your chin up to look up at her. She grins, “We’ll talk more later on. Go on.” You lifted yourself from your seat and left the room. You figured Brodie was somewhere else, so you headed to the stables just outside. Slowly meeting up with your shire horse, Oliver.

“Morning, Oliver,” You say, rubbing your hand down your horse’s back. Oliver sputters towards you as you add the saddle and situated it before getting on. You pat her side, “Let’s go down the river for a bit, okay?” You take the shank in hand and gently guide yourself down the small trail. Your horse takes you down the trail through the woods with flowers and bright green grass.

So much hadn’t changed since, the creek you remembered when you skipped rocks and dropped flowers, watching them glide down the ripples. 

The amount of bunnies you had in the forest. Your mother gave you a pet bunny once. You weren’t sure how the poor thing got away. Your horse sputters softly and you hear rustling in the brush. Your horse comes to a stop for you to look around. The sound of galloping horses filled your ears and people were shouting. 

Your horse lifts up its front hooves causing you to scream in fright as three men are chasing a couple deer down the trails. You couldn’t help but scowl. “Excuse me!” You call out, one of them comes to a stop while the other two continue to chase the deer. “Yes, milady?” He asked, his familiar uniform gave you the hint of a guard. 

The similar Lion button was on the front of his horse's chest and his sword was gold and the handle was a leather brown for grip. You hear another pair of horse’s hooves. “Head on, Francis. I didn’t tell you to stop, did I?” 

“No, Your Highness,” You hear him say, turning his horse’s head to hunt down the deer. You turn and see Ransom on his dark horse. He ogled yours with disgust, “You know they do have smaller horses for your size. There’s no need to show your pride with that.” You roll your eyes and your horses circled around on the trail. “You know you’re hunting,” You say.

Ransom looks out to the forest and nods, smugly, “Yeah, it’s the season. I have a bigger family than yours, so I’m in charge of hunting.”

You scoff with a grin, “I know you wouldn’t hunt just for food. For your family, you’d call it a sport.” Ransom chuckles at that, lowering his head, looking at the back of his horse’s neck. The ways Ransom had when it comes to hunting, you’ve seen him do it in person. He disgusted you in a way. “And you’re on my land, I suggest you leave.”

Ransom lifts his head up, “Your land?” He asks, “Pardon me, but I don’t think after a day of being welcomed back, you don’t get to command another Royal to leave when you don’t have the upper crown.” You lifted a brow up, cockily, “Ask your men for their sword, I’ll show you.” Ransom’s gaze seemed to darken the second you said that. It didn’t change yours either. Your horses’ continue to circle and you look over to the field. 

“My grandfather always told me how much you beat him at Go. He said you had a lot of strategy. Takes years to master.”

“Why, didn’t you?” You asked, chin lifted up like you had the upper hand of being the tougher one here. Ransom halts his horse and so does yours. Your horses’ noses pointing opposite directions, you and Ransom made eye contact. His dark grin grew, “Even if I told you, I wouldn’t try it with you.”

“I know that’s your way of knowing I would beat you,” You replied. Ransom wasn’t always good at anything he did with you. Except that when you two first had your duel, he only became more of an imbecile. Translation: An Asshole. That day, returning after your incident with Ransom who’s probably feeding his family with Blood Elk they find in the Evergreen Mountain. Blood Elks are the rarest animals in the mountain, their red antlers are wide and tough that stories were told to scare children from running up there. 

Your father was a hunter when he was young, there was never a time where he didn’t have a hunting story to tell. The time he got bit by one of the most strongest bears in the country or the time he shot an arrow at an eagle flying in the sky. He initially taught your brother, James to hunt and eventually James learned how to skin animals and turn them into rugs or just even small things. James had a weird little thing for the anatomy of animals that he became very smart and learned the anatomy of humans, knowing the weak spots and fatal parts of the body. That’s why he joined a sport down in town facing mercenaries or other men who challenge on a horse and a spear. Jousting was his favorite hobby of all and he won every championship. Training his way into this championship in Winter, he is always out in the fields taking down sandbags in armor off a friendly horse chasing towards him while an instructor assists. 

“Darling.”

“Yes, mother?” You asked.

Your mother lifts her head up and smiles, “You're going down to the library in town, are you?” You look down at the book in your hands and close the book, knowing you could read another book. “I might.” Your mother puts her hands on her lap, “I wanted you to go talk to the florist, Miss Nora, she has these flowers from the Spain land, Chocolate Cosmos, so beautiful. You should grab some on your way back.” You then thought now you had to go, you can never refuse a Queen’s request. “Of course— AH!” A large thud hits the table and you look up to see a dead deer. You stand up, startled before you collapse into the arms of the same man you met, the boy’s face drowns with worry. “Are you alright, Your Majesty?” You glance at the deer and turn away disgusted that the deer's mouth was open not to your liking.

Ransom peered over the boy’s shoulder and grabbed him, “Let her go,” He growled at his Gillie and the boy helped you back on your feet and let go of you. Your mother and father were more impressed than uncomfortable. Ransom switches his tone, “Good afternoon, Your Majesty.”

“Ransom, I didn’t know you were still in the Kingdom,” Your mother says, your father grins and raises his palm. “I allowed him to do a little hunting for my men. They’re so slow when it comes to hunting deer,” Your father scoffed. You gag and the *Gillie boy turns to you. “Well, thank you, Ransom, this is the nicest thing you could do for us. Should we offer you a room? You look tired.” You shake your head, holding your hand to your mouth. “No, thank you, I have somewhere else to go for the evening.” Your father waves him off, “Thank you, Ransom, you’re welcome to take the deer to our butcher, he shall butcher it for dinner tonight.” Ransom bows a couple inches and turns.  *Gillie or ghillie is an ancient Gaelic term for a person who acts as a servant or attendant on a fishing, hunting.

The Gillie boy mutters to you, “You alright?”

“I’m okay–”

“Ben!” Ransom shouts, the boy flinches and gently rubs your shoulder before picking up the deer and struggles to carry it behind Ransom to the Butcher. You looked towards your parents and saw yourself out the door. You had your gown in your fists, angrily making your way through the hall. You hear large footsteps behind and you gasp the second you’re pushed against the wall. Ransom towers over you and grabs your chin with his thumb. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to see your face.”

“What do you mean,” You grit, trying to pull away from him. Ransom grins and looks down at your gown. “All these colors aren’t going to cover up your secrets, Y/N.” His blue eyes look deep into yours. “What are you?” He asked, your eyes glare at him, bringing up the similar voice into your head when you were little. 

“What. Are. You?” 

You don’t answer that and it makes him smirk, “The thing about deer is that their hearts aren’t close to their chest, it’s more halfway down above their stomach and below their lungs…” Ransom puts his finger on your stomach but you could barely feel it through your corset. “You either take the arrow and fire there–” He gently jabs your stomach, “–Or you take the arrow and strike it to the neck of its arteries.” He points to your neck and lightly pokes it. Stepping away, he smirks and watches you leave, lifting your gown to remove yourself from that hall. Ransom grins and turns down the other way.

 The next day, Brodie got you ready in a relaxed gown to go out into town, and two soldiers chaperoned you to the library on your father’s behalf. Brodie tagged along to help you find the flowers when you stop at the florist. If you were to throw yourself off a course of task, it’s a rule that your parents should know you went to another place. Which you wanted to visit the bakery. You skipped the library causing Brodie and the soldiers to stop, “Your Majesty, the library.”

You wave your hand, “I know, I want to do the florist first.” Brodie sighs and follows along with the soldiers who held their swords hilts in their sheaths. You could barely see their eyes but you can tell their lower faces were a curiosity of how handsome their faces were. You walked up to the small flower shop and saw an old woman fixing some flowers on the display. “Miss Nora.”

“Ah, Your Majesty,” She grins, “I know what you’re here for, the Queen asked for a couple dozen of Chocolate Cosmos, my son, Frances traveled to Spain and found these. I always thought your mother was more fond of blue but she has a unique taste.” You chuckled and paid the woman a couple coins, she was in complete awe. “Your Majesty, I can’t–”

“It’s between us,” You winked, the currency you owned was one of the richest gold. Carved in the coin was one of the first Kings of Saphir. The old lady thanked you so kindly, bowing and blessing you with a couple more flowers. Brodie helped you carry some of the flowers gathered in a basket and you made your way over to the library. The castle had a library of its own but there was more of history than there was of nonfiction. You learned to read French by your mother and there were common French books to read, especially Latin. Latin and French are not very distinct from each other but you wanted to learn Latin and many more languages.

“This book, here… Romeo–”

“Read that, already,” You spoke, searching through the books. Brodie steps over to another spine of a book. “Spy of the Stars?” Brodie asked, you looked over and shook your head. “Oh!” You peep, reaching into the shelf to pull out a book with a lack of writing and over worn. “Game Without Glory.” You began to read the first chapter and you began to feel already pulled into it. You and Brodie walk out with a couple other books and the soldiers stiffen themselves up when you turn to them, “Bakery, next.”

“Your Highness, we were ordered to take you back after your visit with the florist and library–”

You sigh and begin to walk towards the Bakery, “I’ll be quick, besides, I think my father would enjoy a tarte framboise.” Brodie tags along and without argument the soldiers follow beside her. The welcoming sign of the Bakery and the smell of French bread and sourdough filled the air when you walked in. “Stop eating those, they’re not for you! You’re lucky I’m making extra.”

“So I can have some–”

“Stop it, James!” The red haired young girl slapped the hand of the Prince. “Are you harassing her in her own bakery?” James turns still leaned on the counter with a grin. “Of course I am not! I’m just eating her delicious tart…” He slips another tart into his mouth slowly. Quinn rolls her eyes and pulls the pan of tarts away from him. James lifts himself off the counter and turns around, “What are you doing out here?” He notices the soldiers outside of the Bakery. “Ah, mom.”

“She wanted me to stop for some flowers but I wanted to stop for something nice.”

Quinn comes back out and brushes off her gown, “Would you like to take a couple rolls I made? It’s a new recipe I made.” You beam at her with delight, “Of course, I would love to try some!” Quinn smiles and leaves to go grab the basket. “Would you like me to take you back?” James asked, “I don’t like that they’re sending you off with soldiers everyday."

All you could ever do was smile, "I don’t mind them, they’re like friends.” James gives you a blank look and then nods, “Alright, then. Be safe back home.” Quinn came back with a basket of rolls and added some fruits on the side. “Oh, this is wonderful, Quinn, thank you so much.” Quinn grins and bows a little bit. “Of course, I hope you’ll like them and your parents, too.” 

You chuckle, “I hope not, I don’t want my father to make you into our bakery or something.” Quinn laughs and lightly touches James' shoulder. “I wouldn’t let him,” James added. Brodie picks up the basket of rolls and you sigh, “Alright I’m off, thank you again. I’ll see you another day!”

“Bye, Y/N!” 

When  you walk out, the soldiers close in to your side as you step down the stairs. On the way back was a chatty walk, you and Brodie were making plans for the day to check on your horse and as well the garden. When you got home, a maid rushed her way down the stairs, almost out of fear. “Your Highness!” She calls, she stops in front of you and bows. “The King has requested to see you immediately.” You asked Brodie and the maid to take care of the baskets and made your way to the Great Hall where your father and mother sat at, they were talking to a woman in a red dress and another man standing beside her and a smaller one just a few inches shorter beside them with his hand behind his back and the other in front of him.

You slowly walk up, brushing your hair off your face and fixing your dress. “Ma cherie,” Your mother touches your father’s hand and he looks. “Ah, look who showed up.”

“Hello, father.”

“You’ve met the Royals of Romania?” You turn and notice the similar faces from your ball, including their handsome son named Rafael. His mother grins, “We’ve been allies for many generations and I’ve come to an agreement that something should be requested and decided before next fall.”

Your father slightly leans to the side, “That’s a long wait, you sure you don’t want a decision immediately?” The Queen steps up once, “I know after the princess’ return every princess is jealous and every prince wants to take her hand and bear their child but I’m letting–” She glances at you, “–the princess decide what she wants.” You picked at your hands and saw Rafael glance at you with a small grin. “Very well–” Your father said, “I will give you a letter if there has been any changes or requests for this matter. There’s no other Royal Family I will allow my daughter to marry, but it is her decision.” You wanted to say no, but you were worried about the consequences of the arranged marriage. 

You don’t want to get married. Being sent off to a manor that is filled with more women you can imagine that are put through to behave and learn the way of how women should act. But it was different. You got the reality that there can be a change. You hate men. How disgusting and horrible they are, but there was a source of hope that one could come. But you don’t know if Rafael or Samuels are one of those men.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” The Queen bows, “Bringing our Kingdoms together can break the ideal of war between the others.” The King nods and waves them off, the King and Queen of Romania leave but the son stays and turns to you. He takes your hand gently by giving you a look of consent and you allow him to take your hand and kiss your knuckles softly, still looking into your eyes with gleam. “Do think about it,” His accent was so smooth it had you struck with thought when he walked away with his parents. Your father’s strong gaze ripped you out of the trance. 

“Father, I don’t know if you’ve heard but I don’t want to get–”

“I know you don’t want to, but this is the choice of life or death,” He stands up, “I don’t know if you’ve heard recently there’s a Royal who’s trying to get the throne. They call him the Royal of War. His whole Kingdom was destroyed into ruins by every Kingdom because their generations are considered the weak Royals, but now his last generation is him and he will do anything to get to us.” 

You realize, now. Marrying can stop war, your biggest fear was being in a war. The blood and the dead bodies have been haunting you ever since you heard stories about the Saphir Wars many decades ago. Your ideal of a world was peace. You didn’t argue back and nod once with a bow. “I’ll think about it.” Your father nods with great content and waves you off. 

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